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Craft {Canon: Whiskey and Bitters Emporium}

August 17, 2012

I’m excited to visit Artusi. Really, I am. Thursday just didn’t feel right, though. Canon felt like the better choice for both me and B (we came to our own independent conclusions) and so, we went. Back to Thursday night dinners and I bring you a place that isn’t new to me, but is new to the blog. I adore Canon. Before they made CNN Eatocracy’s list of top 10 best new bars in the country, we loved them. All it takes is one bottled cocktail from Canon and your heart will belong to them as well.

So here’s the thing about Canon. They make damn good cocktails. I mean, these are truly memorable, pre-Prohibition, cocktails from when the spirits were still good enough not to need too much fluff to make incredible cocktails. These are I-forgot-my-camera, but I’m-still-going-to-tell-you-about-my-visit-because-it-was-so-awesome cocktails.

B had the hooker for his first drink. He and the bartender laughed way too hard when the bartender declared that “your hooker has arrived.” B has a t-shirt, his favorite t-shirt, that has only three words on it. “Bourbon, Scotch, Beer.” This cocktail was made for him.

In between awesome drinks made by an even more awesome bartender was some equally fantastic food. It didn’t sound like much. It didn’t even look like much, but we barely finished it. Between us, we shared the angostura-bourbon nuts, gras dog (foie gras cream cheese, brioche,
champagne & truffle pasta salad), braised pork cheeks (parmesan polenta, arugula salad), and the pork belly buns (sweet & spicy sauce, apple slaw). I love their steamed buns with a slightly unnatural passion. They are amazing. I hate pasta salad. This pasta salad rules all other pasta salads.

I, of course, had my gratuitous adult soda (ruban bleu royale – rum, yvette, lemon, sparkling) on national Rum day. I also had a shrouded roulette (“tell us your base spirit and we’ll create the mystery”) for which Irish whiskey was my base spirit.

Canon is really wonderful. They have excellent food, fantastic drinks, and a super awesome space. When it comes down to it, though, what they really have is an awesome crew. They have people who are serious about the business of crafting cocktails, not slinging drinks. While I’m sure they make 100 canon cocktails a night, if you ask the right questions, you’ll get something a million times more complex and interesting… and that’s coming from someone who really loves the canon cocktail. Oh, and as long as you’re there, go to the bathroom. It’s worth a visit all it’s own.